And That's the Way It Is....

"Old anchormen, you see, don't fade away; they just keep coming back for more. And that's the way it is: Friday, March 6, 1981. I'll be away on assignment, and Dan Rather will be sitting in here for the next few years. Good night."

Walter Cronkite's last nightly news broadcast ended with those words in 1981. The dean of broadcast journalists died Friday at the age of 92. His broadcast career spanned the generations of my grandfather, father and me. He covered the Battle of the Bulge before going to CBS News. He was the voice of comfort and information for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Apollo 11 moon landing and Watergate. In a world before Internet he was the "most trusted man in a America".

If it came from Cronkite it had to be true! His breed and generation of news journalist didn't cower to the pop culture. He was the consummate professional and didn't need to dabble in the titillating headlines that so many journalists now consider necessary to get ratings and make the bucks.

AP reporter Ted Anthony has written a commentary that really captures what Cronkite meant to America and the unlikelihood it will ever be repeated by anyone in broadcasting. It is the passing of an era fondly remembered by those of us who lived during his reign at CBS. Goodnight Mr Cronkite. May you rest in peace.